Tirades, manifestoes, and
musings on the role of theatre
in American society.

Friday, June 27, 2008

A Reminder

Thanks to Andrew Taylor at the Artful Manager for drawing my attention to this Ted speech by conductor Benjamin Zander. Zander talking about classical music, and the pure joy and hope andbelief in the music combined with an ability to explain it so that others can experience what he hears is just amazing.

Watching this is a reminder to me to focus on what is important. If I could do what Zander does, and explain things in such a way as to make the experience of a play magical, I would be making such a difference. And if I could nurture within myself Zander's attitude, which I have at my best, I could lead so much better and teach so much better.

It is so very hard to focus on the love and not on the irritation, to focus on what is right instead of what is wrong. I fall into the anger and frustration and forget about the fact that most people are of good will and are trying. Perhaps the goal is to surround yourself with things that remind you of this, so that you can stay afloat as often as possible. I don't know.

But I was moved by this speech, in both the emotional and the spatial way that I discussed in the post below. How, indeed, can we speak only those words that could serve as the last things we would say to someone? It is impossible, but if we tried to move more in that direction, what might it change?

(If the video cuts off in the middle of Zander's Auschwitz story at the end of the speech, be sure to follow the link to the TED site: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html)